Donald Trump shared images of himself posing with Michael Jackson in an apparent attempt to prove his is not racist. Photo / Donna Connor, FilmMagic
Donald Trump shared images of himself posing with Michael Jackson in an apparent attempt to prove his is not racist. Photo / Donna Connor, FilmMagic
United States President Donald Trump has seemingly hit back at allegations of racism, showcasing his friendships with high-profile black celebrities in the wake of his Obama faux pas.
Trump reshared a series of videos to Truth Social, posing next to stars including Snoop Dogg and Will Smith in what hecalled “a timeline of Trump’s bigotry”.
“How quickly people forget. So Sad! President DJT,” he wrote alongside another post, which shows him with accused human trafficker Sean “Diddy” Combs and convicted sex offender Mike Tyson.
One video showed Trump with Michael Jackson, who was accused of molesting several young boys before his death, with the caption: “Donald Trump values loyalty greatly – and he was extremely loyal to Michael Jackson.”
It comes after the 45th and 47th President’s social media account shared a video that depicted former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama as monkeys, set to the tune of The Lion King’s The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
The backlash was fierce, with politicians on either side of the aisle criticising the 79-year-old for the post.
One of the leader’s allies, Senator Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican representative and the only black member of the Senate, publicly condemned the video on X, formerly Twitter, as “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House”.
Donald Trump also showcased his friendship with celebrated talkshow host Oprah Winfrey. Photo / Jeffrey Asher, Getty Images
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called on the US leader to apologise for the clip, saying “it was racist and it’s right that it’s been removed”.
According to ABC News, Trump claimed he had not seen the racist portion of the video as he spoke to reporters on Air Force One.
“I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of picture people don’t like. I wouldn’t like it either, but I didn’t see it. I just looked at the first part, and it was really about voter fraud.”
While he renounced the offensive part of the video, the President refused to apologise, claiming he hadn’t made a mistake – although the video has now been deleted.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the BBC a staffer had posted “an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King” at Trump’s request.
“Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public,” she said.
Vice-President JD Vance has also defended the video, which he said was not “a real controversy”, asserting the Administration has “many more real problems to focus on”.
